Garment hanger



T. E. GRAY GARMENT HANGER Feb. 7, 1950 Filed Dec. 3, 1945 Patented Feb. 7, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GARMENT HANGER Thomas E. Gray, Atlanta, Ga.

Application December 3, 1945, Serial No. 632,425

1 Claim.

This invention relates to supports and more particularly to a garment hanger.

It is an object of this invention to provide a garment hanger having means thereon for gripping a garment at an end thereof with an adequate pressure.

It is another object of this invention to provide a garment hanger having one or more gripping clamps so constructed as to spread the clamping force over a wide area of the garment to avoid the formation of wrinkles therein.

It is another object of this invention to provide a garment hanger constructed of separate parts all of which may be easily stamped out in mass production at a very small cost.

It is another object of this invention to provide in a garment hanger the separate parts of which will hold themselves together without welding or any other type of fastenings, therefore cutting to a minimum the expense of assembling.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a garment hanger of the type described provided with means thereon for reducing the tendency of garments to slip therefrom.

Other and further objects of the invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a frontal elevation of the garment hanger showing the hook, supporting arm and clamps thereof,

Figure 2 is a view in section along the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a detailed view of one of the clamp arms of the invention showing a ridge thereon for preventing the dislocation of the spring steel ring of one of the clamps;

Figure 4 is a top plan view of one of the rings therof; and

Figure 5 is a detailed side elevation of a modified form of this invention.

The garment hanger of this invention comprises generally an elongated supporting arm H], a hook [2 on the supporting portion III for engaging a hanger support, and one or more clamps 14 at either end of the supporting arm ID for holding garments hanging theron.

The supporting arm I and the hook l2 may be made from metal, plastic, or wood material. If made out of metal these parts may be easily stamped out in mass production from any thin light metal and constructed with an angle or groove pressed into all parts for additional strength.

The ends of the supporting arm in are preferably widened, as shown at It, each forming a back clamp arm of a clamp l4 and for providing the clamp [4 with a wide gripping area to prevent the formation of wrinkles in a hanging garment. The supporting arm I0 is further provided on its upper surface with one or more tabs l8 each forming a part of a clamp l4 for a purpose later described.

The clamps l4 each comprise a clamp arm 2|] extending along one side of the supporting arm l0 and provided with a nib 22 on the upper side thereof and preferably integral therewith. The nibs 22 are each in a position opposite one of the tabs of the supporting arm in so that one of the nibs 22 and one of the tabs l8 may be pinched together to open the clamp l4.

The lower portion 24 of the clamp arm 20 is preferably bent at an angle so as to be held in a generally parallel position with respect to the widened portion l6 of the supporting arm l0.

As best shown in Figure 3, the clamp arm 20 is widened at its lower end 26 to provide a wide gripping area for preventing the formation of wrinkles in hanging garments. Each clamp l4 further comprises an elongated ring 28 of circular cross section and having a split 30 in the circumference thereof to permit the ring 28 to be placed in a position extending across the top of the supporting arm Ill and across the top of each clamp arm 20 for holding the lower portion 24 of the clamp arm 20 in a clamping position with respect to the widened portion 16 of the supporting arm Ill.

The outer side 3| of the split 30 will exert pressure upon the clamping arm 20 while the inner side 32 of the split 30 will exert pressure on the back side of the supporting arm 10. 1

As thus described it will be seen that the clamping ring 28 will hold the clamping arm 20 to the supporting arm I0 without the necessity of employing welding or other type of fastenings, therefore cutting to the minimum the expense of assembling the garment hanger.

The clamping arm 20 and the widened portion l6 may be provided with ridges 34 and 35 preferably stamped into and formed from the clamping arm 20 and supporting arm Ill, respectively. The ridges 34 and 35 serve to prevent the clamping ring 28 from becoming disengaged from its position about the supporting arm l0 and the clamping arm 20.

The lower end 36 of the widened portion 16 and the lower portion 24 of the clamping arm 20 may be lined on their inside with felt or other cloth material secured to the metal by glue or other suitable means for the purpose of further preventing the silpping of a garment from the clamp I4.

In operation the tab 18 and the nib 22 of a clamp H. are pinched together thus opening the clamp. The waist band of a skirt or one end of a waist band of a skirt or the cufi of a pair of mens trousers is inserted between the end 24 of the clamping arm 20 and the widened portion I8 of the clamping arm I 0. When the tab l8 and the nib 22 are then released the garment will be firmly gripped in the clamp 14 due to the torque action of a force exerted outwardly on the clamping arm 22 by the ring 28 at the slot 32 and. the force of the ring 28 forcing inwardly on the outside oi? the clamping arm 2.0 at the split end 30 of the ring 28.

Refer in n w o Fig re 5. there is shown a ment hanger generally designated as 31 which inludes a hook 3 1 supporting arms 39 and a connesting bar 40. Th connecting bar 40 has mounted thereon clamping members M which are s milar in every etail. to. the. lamp m m s hereinbefore described which are mounted on hanger bar I n.

It will thus be seen that this invention provides a arment h n er capab e or fir y and ad quately gripping a. garment applying pressure over a wide area so that no wrinkles are formed, and which is of a construction easily and economically manufactured and marketed.

The abovedesoription of the invention is for illustrative purposes only and it is understood that modifications may be made in the construction within the scope and spirit of the following claim.

What I claim is:

A garment hanger comprising an elongated supporting arm haw'ng a vertically enlarged portion formed on the opposite ends thereof to provide a clamping jaw, an upstanding tab formed integral with the top edge of each of said enlarged portions, a hook mounted on said arm for engaging a, hanger support, a clamping member disposed on one side of each of said enlarged portions, each of said clamping members including a rectangular lower portion adapted to engage the associated clamping jaw for clamping a garment therebetween, and an upstanding nib formed integral with the top edge thereof, said rectangular portion and said enlarged portion being formed with oppositely struck horizontally extending beads, and a spring steel split cylindrical sleeve engageable over the upper edges of said rectangular portion and said enlarged portion with the confronting edge along the split thereof engaging said rectangular and enlarged portions below said beads, a pair of circumferentially spaced apart longitudinally extending parallel slots formed in said sleeve adapted to receive said upstanding tab and said upstanding nib whereby said sleeve will spring press together said enlarged portion and said rectangular portion and provide a fulcrum between said clampin member and said enlarged portion.

THOMAS E. GRAY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are 01 record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 648,534 Seger May 1, 1900 892,149 Gould June 30, 1908 1,014,597 Hewlett Jan. 9, 1912 1,474,102 Ashmore Nov. 13, 1923 2,270,828 Von Palmenberg Jan. 20, 1942 2,338,702 Cavanagh a- Jan. 11, 1944 

